Sronvibrating relief valve



June 2, 1931.

F. H. HOPKINS NONVIBRATING RELI EF VALVE Filed Sept. 8, 1927 JrzwrZE/toil or other fluid under pressure.

Patented June 2, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT orrlce IRA-NI H. HOPKINS,- OI' ARLINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN- IENTB, TO CONSOLIDATED ASHCROFT HANCOCK COMPANY, INC., 0! NEW YORK,

N. Y, A. (DB'PORATION OI DELAWARE nonvnsmrme REIJEF VALVE Application filed September 8, 1927. Serial No. 318,841.

The subject matter of this invention relates to relief or safety valves which are normally held closed by a spring and are adapted to open against the resistance of the spring for relief of. pressure above the do ee for which the spring is set. Such va ves areused in various systems including fi pipes and containers holding steam, water,

The particularconstruction of valve chosen for illustration herein is one of the class used with domestic heating systems in the line through which oil is passed.

Relief valves as heretofore made are subject to a serious objection, that is, of vibratng or fluttering and knocking when the va ve ro 'r leaves or approaches its seat or is el slightly open by'escapin'g-fluid under a pressure slightly more than the closing pressure of the valve s ring. The noise caused by such vibration is objectionable in most installations, and is particularly so with valves used in domestic equipment. And with large valves, wherever used, this vibrating or fluttering sometimes causes a ver and frequent y in'ures the valve seat to such an extent as to estroy the accuracy of fit between the seat and valve roper.

My object is to-obviate this objectionable vibration and noise in relief valves. I have accomplished this object by producing-a valve in which the valve proper and its seat are-so organized and related that thevalve proper does not completely separate from its seat, but is always so guided and con:- trolled by the seat that it cannot vibrate or flutter and make the objectionable noise or injure the seat. The invention is applicable to relief or safet valves of all sizes and capacities for use 1n all circumstances where such valves are applicable.

In the drawings,-- i Fig. 1 is a vertical central section of one desi vention; v

Fig. 2 is a cross section on line 2--2,o

Fig 1; igs. 3 and 4 are fragmentary sectional views, similar to Fig. 1, showing the valve loud and disagreeable noise of safety valve embodying the valve seat and valve proper.

proper and valve seat with different forms of means for limiting the lateral motion of the valve proper under extreme opening conditions.

Like reference characters designate the same parts wherever they occur in all the res.

Referring first to Figs; 1 and 2, 5 re resents the base fitting or castin adapte to be mounted on some part/of t e systemin which fluid under pressure is confined, such fitting having a passage 6 for relief of the fluid when the pressure exceeds a predetermined degree, and having a seat 7 complemental to the valve proper 8. The valve further includes a casing 9 having an outlet 10, and supporting an adjustable abutment 11 for a spring 12 which'acts throu h a stem 13 to force the valve proper to t e.

seat. Such spring is confined between disks 14.- and 15, the former being engaged with the stem and the latter reacting against the abutment 11, and the abutment having 'a passa e 16 to guide the upper end of stem '13. he stem extends into a socket 17 in the valve proper and has a conical end 18 makin point contact with the bottom of the soc et in the axis of the valve below the upper end of the valveseat,and such socket is larger than the stem to permit of. the valve proper finding its bearing on the seat.

IAs thus far described, the valve involves no substantial departure from prior pracamount, less than the width of the passage, .such that the axis of the seat lies within the boundaries of the passage. The broken line .19jflrepresents the axis of this part of the I passageand the broken line 20 the axis of The entrance end of the passage is preferably, but not necessarily ofl'set to be concentric with sure containing system or making this end eccentric to the valve seat end, while at the same time making the escape passage of egual cross section throughout. These parts 0 the passage are readily constructed in practice by drillin longitudinally into opposite ends of the tting on the lines 19 and 20, respectively. The conical pointed end of the drill forms the inclined connecting surfaces 21 and 22 in the course of the two drilling operations. The seating face 7 is formed with a continuous taper by drilling or reaming, or both, on the center line 20. Such taper is preferably straight as shown, although it may be somewhat curved longitudinally, with either concave or convex curvature, without departing from the principles and scope of theinvention.

It results from this relationship between the passage and valve seat that the length of the valve seat, and equally of the seating face of the valve proper, varies from a minimum length at one side of the valve to a maximum length at the opposite side, as clearly shown in the drawings, the bearing area being bounded by the planes represented by the broken lines 23 and 24 in Fig. 1. Thus when the valve is seated, a greater area of the valve proper is exposed to the fluid pressure at one side of its axis than at the other. Hence the fluid pressure tends to force the valve laterally, and, when unseating the valve, moves it laterally as well as upwardly. The lateral movement is in the direction of the side where the seating area is longest. Such displacement of the valve proper also inclines the valve stem so that the pressure of the spring 12 is exerted toward the same side. Hence, as the valve proper lifts, it remains in contact with the long side of the seat and slides along the seat at this side. The socket 17 which receives the valve stem is made enough larger than the stem to avoid interference with the side of the stem when the valve is fully opened and the stem inclined to the maximum extent. Binding of the upper end of the stem in the guideway 16 at such times is prevented by making the end of the stem which enters the guideway with a loose fit and short bearing area, and providing a zone 25 of reduced diameter adjacent to the end.

The contact which is thus maintained with considerable force between the valve proper and one side of its seat when the valve is open, holds the valve proper steady and prevents it from fluttering or vibrating at any point in its opened or partially opened condition. The cause of fluttering in valves as heretofore made has been the necessary point engagement between the valve proper and stem, similar to that here shown, and

the impossibility of preserving accurate balance of the valve proper and fluid pressure, at all sides of the axis of the stem. Even though the valves of the prior art are provided with guiding or stead ing wings projecting into the passage of t e valve seat fitting, it is impossible to fit such Wings 'in the passage closely enough to prevent fluttering. There must be some freedom in the fitting of the wings in order that the valve may open and close at the prescribed ressures and adjust itself to the scat. uch unavoidable freedom or looseness is enough to permit the objectionable vibration and noise, as is well understood by all makers and users of relief valves.

I have overcome the difficulty by deliberately unbalancing the pressure area of the valve proper and causing the fluid pressure and seating spring to cooperate in maintaining a constant firm guiding engagement at all times between the valve proper and seat, discarding all means tending to center the valve proper when open and maintaining the valve proper perfectly steady by its contact with the seat.

Extensive tests under conditions which ordinarily cause very severe vibration have demonstrated that the valves made in accordance with this invention are free from this difficulty. They cause no vibration noise whether the valve proper is open only slightly or to any extent.

In the valve shown in Figs. land 2, the lateral or transverse movement of the valve proper continues in a regularly increasing degree throughout the opening movement, and its pressure against the valve seat is increased in greater ratio due to the increasing angularity of the stem 13. This is unobjectionable in many instances, but in others may be objectionable. To avoid any objection from this cause, I have devised means for limiting the lateral movement of the valve proper while retaining the advantages due to the eccentric relation of the valve proper to the seat and the guiding engagement between them. One form of such means is shown in Fig. 3 and consists in providing an upstanding lug 26 at the upper end of the valve seat adapted to be enga ed by the large end of the valve proper after the latter has been displaced laterally to a limited extent. Opening movement of the valve is then continued along the line of the lug, without further lateral displacement, but contact of the valve proper and the seat fitting is still maintained between the part 27 of the valve proper and lug 26 at one end, and between the lower extremity 28 of the valve seat and the adjacent part of the valve proper. Contact at these points is sufi'i'cient to accomplish the resultsl previously described.

Although I have shown here a series of lugs 26 with intermediate spaces 29 to permit escape of the fluid, completely surrounding the valve proper, this arrangement is provided for convenience of manufacture, and onl the lug at the side where the seating ace has its greatest length is necessary for the purpose of a guide.

An alternative means for the same purpose is shown in Fig. 4 and consistsin an extension 30 of the valve pro r adapted to engage the part 31 of the va ve seat fitting ad]acent to the lower end of the lon est art of the seat when the valve proper as n displaced laterally to the prescribed limited istance. Other equivalent alternatives may be employed for the same purpose, as by formin the valve seat with a spherical or spheroldal concave curvature, which would g1ve the valve roper the same character of movement as t e guide means shown in Fig. 3.

In the foregoing specification I have described the valve and the relation of its several parts on the assumption that it is in a vertical position, as here shown. Such description, however, is not to be construed as a limitation in the uses or applications of the invention, since these principles may be ap lied to a valve used in any situation as we 1 when the valve roper opens in a lateral or downward lrection as when the opening movement is u ward. The descriptive terms hereinbe ore used are to be construed in accordance with this explanation.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patents is: a

1. A relief valve comprising a fitting having a fluid passage and a tapering valve seat at one end of said passage eccentric thereto by an amount, less than the width thereof, such that the axis of the seat lies within the boundaries of the passage, combined with a loaded valve proper complemental to said seat.

2. A relief valve comprising a seat fitting having a tapered valve seat a valve proper complementally tapered to fit said seat and pro ect therein, loading means for the valve proper having a rockm' g e ment therewith and being free to ap gl y zlosin load on the valve roper in a direction inclined to the axis of t e seat, and an escape assage for pressure fluid intersecting the va ve seat and being eccentric to the seat and valve proper.

3. A relief valve comprising a fitting having an escape passage and a tapered valve seat constituting one end of such passage and arranged eccentric to the adjacent part of the passage, a valve proper complemental to said seat extending into the assage, and means for alppl ing seating orce to said valve central y t ereof and of the valve seat.

4. A relief valve comprising complemental valve and seat members and means for causing the fluid pressure to exert unequal ressures on diiferent sides of the axis 0 the members, said members having inclined guiding elements arranged to malntain contact with one another at longitudinal separate points when the valve is open, whereby vibration of the valve is prevented.

5. A relief valve comprising a fittin having a tapered valve seat at one end an a passage intersecting said seat eccentrically thereto, a valve proper complemental to said seat and concentric therewith, having an extended bearing portion in engagement with the longer side of the seat, and means for applying seating force to said valve proper.

6. A relief valve comprising a fitting having a tapered valve seat at one end and a passage intersecting said seat eccentrically thereto, a valve proper complemental to said seat and concentric therewith, having an extended bearing portion in engagement with the longer side of the seat, a seating spring for the valve proper, and a stem for applying the force of said spring engaged flexib y with the valve roper to permit lateral movement thereof in opening and closing.

7. A relief valve comprising a fitting having a tapered valve seat at one end and a passage intersecting said seat eccentrically thereto, a valve proper complemental to said seat and concentric therewith, having an extended bearing portion in engagement with the'longer side of the seat, a stem flexibl engaged with the valve proper, a guide or a part of said stem distant from the valve proper arranged to guide such part of the stem in a given line while permitting deflection thereof with the valve proper, and a spring arranged to apply seating force t rough the stem on the va ve proper.

In testimony whereof I have aflixed my signature.

FRANK H. HOPKINS. 

